OD400 Overdrive
Reviewed by:
sg4ever, on july 07, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Ease of Use: It's fairly easy to use. Just lower your expectations, because this is no Tubescreamer or Maxon OD808. The knobs are good for adjusting the volume, amount of gain, and tweaking the treble and bass. I have to say that the manual and all Behringer effects manuals are horrendous. The don't help in the slightest. // 7

Sound: I plug a Greg Bennett AV3 into this and this into a Vox AD30VT. It's pretty good. I mostly use it to add gain to solos or just it heavier for more driving sounds. I also use it to add some grit to my clean tones for light leads with delay. It also can tighten up the Numetal setting on the amp and add lots of gain for metal. It can be harsh, but I use it with very low gain most of the time. I notice that there is no good in between sound on this pedal. It's either low, bluesy, boosting gain or with the Drive knob full up for a classic rock crunch that it sounds alright. The sound is lacking, but it's good enough for my usage of it. // 7

Reliability & Durability: It's plastic, but I use it on stage. It works just fine and I wouldn't try to break it. It always works and the battery usually lasts for almost a month with about a two hour usage each day, depending on how good the battery is. I'm not worried about a backup though. If something happens, I'd just get another one because it's cheap. It loses a couple points for being plastic though. // 8

Overall Impression: I play a variety of all styles nearly, but mostly Christian music, rock, bluesy rock, and some blues. I've been playing for three years, but I don't own much. I'm not disappointed in this pedal, because I knew what it was already. I'm going to replace it soon, so I won't cry if something happens to it. It's just a cheap overdrive. // 7

OD400 Overdrive
Reviewed by:
thethom1999, on october 25, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: A$ 60

Purchased from: Bava's Music City

Ease of Use: Extremely easy to use pedal, just like all other similar brick style pedals, it features a single on/off switch. Easy rear end socket for a separate power adapter (sold separately). Input/Output jack, 1/4 inch. Fairly easy to get a great sound out of it. High gain assaults can be accomplished with a full gain setting on the pedal, and a low volume level on the pedal. The Gain and volume on the amp that you use also affects the clarity and amount of distortion you can gain from the pedal. // 9

Sound: Being on an extremely tight budget, this pedal shines with the setup it's been put under. An Epiphone Limited Edition G310, Fender California cables, and an old Peavey Rage 108 from Peavey's golden era. It does have a very present hum to the pedal, but if your amp is plugged into a socket where there is little electrical interference, then a little hum will generate from the pedal. This pedal can really produce some interesting sounds out of it, from a low end rumbled blues to a Green Day style punk rhythm. I used this pedal on a very small and cheap amp, and it produced a wonderfully trebly distorted tone that was great for playing green day. Isn't exactly the clearest pedal around, higher notes on the upper end of the fretboard become quite muddy, and individual notes don't soar through. Great for riffs and fast rhythms, but not so much for soaring leads. // 8

Reliability & Durability: Unlike a traditional Boss pedal, it isn't covered in metal armor, but rather in plastic. Wouldn't stomp too hard on this thing, because it would definitely break, but if smooth changes from clean to distorted is more your type, then there are no problems what so ever. Batteries can deplete very quickly, so buying a power adapter would be more efficient. // 9

Overall Impression: Fora person that likes to play hard Pop-Punk Rythms, it cuts through surprisingly well in my rig. I currently have a Vox VT40+ and this pedal literally collects dust, it's not match for the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier sounds my Vox can now produce. But if your looking for a slightly un-clear, muddy sounding JCM800/900, then this pedal should do you fine. It does lack a true bypass, but I'm not overly fussed on my clean sounds. If your stuck with a terrible 10w amp, it's distortion sucks, and you need to put out a killer performance, the OD400 comes in handy Put it up against a Boss Overdrive pedal, and it can compete very well. But it lacks the finer detail and nuances in it's sound. // 9

Man those pedals sound awesome on a tube amp they sound very transparent and natural don't think they sound to hot on a SS. The thing that is funny is they sound better than the tube screamer so if you have a tube amp don't waste your money on a tube screamer try one of these first. And also OD pedals are more aimed for tube amps not solid state they are to overdrive the tubes.

Behringer is arguably one of the crappiest makes on the market today. Poor components, cheap Chinese labour and a huge desire for profit altogether result in notoriously unreliable amateur equipment. Behringer pedals are all producing hum, regardless the plug, altering the clarity of the signal, and tending to work worse and worse as time goes by. I still haven't found a single one to work at the input impedances advertised or able to preserve the output advertised for more than a year.
Even when you're tight on budget, don't forget your playing is constantly improving and, in a couple of months, you'll feel the urge of dropping this crap in the first garbage can. And your precious little money will be vanished for good. Be patient, save for a little more and get a decent pedal instead! Only 60 euros separate this piece of junk from a decent distortion from Electro Harmonix, for instance.